JAINpedia held its long anticipated Family Day in Oxford on Friday 9th of June. Despite the heavy rain showers, more than ninety people joined us for a day of different activities around the University Libraries and Museums. The day’s events included activities based on Jainism at three different institutions of the University of Oxford; the Ashmolean Museum, Pitt Rivers Museum, and the Bodleian Libraries.
Events at the Pitt River’s museum were themed around the popular ‘Gyanbazi’ (snakes and ladders) game which was traditionally played by Jains during Paryushan to understand karma theory. Children were able to create their own snakes and ladders boards to take home, and took part in a snakes and ladders trail around the galleries.
The highlight of the morning for all the children was the story telling session by Arshna Sanghrajka in the Bodleian Library’s Convocation House, the room in which the British Parliament met in the seventeenth century. Here the children enjoyed the story of King Hansa, who kept to his vows of Ahimsa and Satya, even during very tricky situations. (The story of King Hansa and other Jain Tales are available for you to purchase at
http://www.learnjainism.org/cid/HTN7ZLSM9UEGF7LQS9LVIE7REO5EYG99/Where-to-Buy-Abuybooks/)
After lunch, the children were able to put their knowledge to the test with our JAINpedia Bingo game at the Bodleian Libraries, where it was encouraging to see that the younger participants were able to answer more of the Jainism related questions than their parents!
The final activities of the day took place at the Ashmolean Museum. Here members of the public were invited to handle Jain objects, and explore the practical aspects of the Jain dharma through understanding their use and purpose. There were also arts and crafts activities in the studios where the families created sculptures of elephants and replicas of sacred footprints out of clay. Children were also invited to take part in a super sketching challenge whilst looking at the Jain artefacts on display in the museum.
This event was organised alongside the JAINpedia exhibit at the Bodleian Libraries. This important collection of Jain manuscripts is unique, comprising of the only known Karma-kanda Manuscript (Wilson 262 fol) with commentary in Persian, as well as many other beautiful Svetambara and Digambara manuscripts. The exhibition will also showcase some manuscripts from the Wellcome Trust and will remain in the Bodleian Library’s Proscholium until the 1st of July.